USPTO Patents Application 10632898

United States Patent and Trademark Office

UNITED STATES DEPARTOENT OF COMmTrCE

United States Patent and Trademark Oflli
Address: COMMISSIONER FOR PATENTS
P.O. Box 14S0

Atexandria. Virginia 22313-1450
www.iispto.gov

I ATTORNEY DOCKET NO. I CONnRMATlON NO. ]

APPLICATION NO.

FILING DATE

FIRST NAMED INVENTOR

10/632.898

08/04/2003

09/09/2004

Wen-Tsan Ko

4586 7590

ROSENBERG, KLEIN & LEE

3458 ELLICOTT CENTER DRIVE-SUITE 101

ELLICOTTCITY, MD 21043

MR2723-299

2891

EXAMINER

ALIMENTI, SUSAN C

ART UNIT

PAPER NUMBER

3644

]

DATE MAILED: 09/09/2004

Please find below and/or attached an Office communication concerning this application or proceeding.

PTO-90C (Rev. 10/03)

Office Action Summary

Application No.

10/632.898

Applicant(s)

KO. WEN-TSAN

Examiner

Susan C. Alimenti

Art Unit
3644

.XUil

~ The MAILING DATE of this communication appears on the cover sheet with the correspondence addi

Period for Reply

A SHORTENED STATUTORY PERIOD FOR REPLY IS SET TO EXPIRE 3 MONTH(S) FROM
THE MAILING DATE OF THIS COMMUNICATION.

- Extensions of time may be available under the provisions of 37 CFR 1 .136(a). In no event, however, may a reply be timely filed
after SIX (6) MONTHS from the mailing date of this communication.

- If the period for reply specified above is less than thirty (30) days, a reply within the statutory minimum of thirty (30) days VTill be considered timely.

- If NO period for reply is specifled above, the maximum statutory period will apply and will expire SIX (6) MONTHS from the mailing date of this communication.

- Failure to reply within the set or extended period for reply will, by statute, cause the application to become ABANDONED (35 U.S.C. § 133).
Any reply received by the Office later than three months after the mailing date of this communication, even if timely filed, may reduce any
earned patent term adjustment. See 37 CFR 1.704(b).

Status

1)13 Responsive to communication{s) filed on 16 August 2004 ,
2a)l3 This action is FINAL. 2b)n This action is non-final.

3) D Since this application is in condition for allowance except for fonmal matters, prosecution as to the merits is

closed in accordance with the practice under Ex parte Quayle, 1935 CD. 1 1 , 453 O.G. 213.

Disposition of Claims

4) ^ Claim(s) 1 is/are pending in the application.

4a) Of the above claim(s) is/are withdrawn from consideration.

5) 0 Claim(s) is/are allowed.

6) ^ Claim(s) f is/are rejected.

7) 0 Claim(s) is/are objected to.

8) n Claim(s) are subject to restriction and/or election requirement.

Application Papers

9) 0 The specification is objected to by the Examiner.

10) n The drawing(s) filed on is/are: a)n accepted or b)n objected to by the Examiner.

Applicant may not request that any objection to the drawing(s) be held in abeyance. See 37 CFR 1 .85(a).
Replacement drawing sheet(s) including the correction is required if the drawing(s) is objected to. See 37 CFR 1.121(d).

1 1) n The oath or declaration is objected to by the Examiner. Note the attached Office Action or fonm PTO-1 52.

Priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119

12) 0 Acknowledgment is made of a claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(a)-(d) or (f).
a)D All b)D Some * c)^ None of:

1 .□ Certified copies of the priority documents have been received.

2. n Certified copies of the priority documents have been received in Application No. .

3. n Copies of the certified copies of the priority documents have been received in this National Stage

application from the International Bureau (PCT Rule 17.2(a)).
* See the attached detailed Office action for a list of the certified copies not received.

Attachment(s)

1) □ Notice of References Cited (PTO-892)

2) n Notice of Drafts person's Patent Drawing Review (PTO-948)

3) O Information Disclosure Statement(s) (PTO-1 449 or PTO/SB/08)

Paper No(s)/Mail Date .

4) n Interview Summary (PTO-413)

Paper No{s)/Maj| Date. .

5) EH Notice of Informal Patent Application (PTO-1 52)

6) □ Other: .

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

PTOL-326 (Rev. 1-04)

Office Action Summary

Part of Paper No./Maii Date 20040803

Application/Control Number: 10/632,898
Art Unit: 3644

Page 2

DETAILED ACTION
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112

1 . The following is a quotation of the second paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 1 12:

The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the
subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.

2. Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 1 12, second paragraphias being indefinite for failing
to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subjecTmatto^ applicant regards as the
invention. The phrase in line 6, "at least one of a seed preservative, insecticide, and bacteria"
seems to be an improperly claimed Markush group. It is not clear if appUcant means to include
in the claimed Umitations all of the aforementioned elements, or at least one. For purposes of
examination the broadest Umitations are assumed, i.e. at least one of the elements.

Claim Rejections - 35 USC §102

3. The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the
basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:

A person shall be entitled to a patent unless -

(b) the invention was patented or described in a printed publication in this or a foreign country or in public use or on
sale in this country, more than one year prior to the date of appUcation for patent in the United States.

4. Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(b) as being anticipated by Behrens (US

5,974,735).

Behrens discloses a plant growing device comprising a seed fixing film 18 being formed
of a dissolvable material adapted for blocking growth of grass. The seed fixing film has seed 12
evenly distributed thereon and can also contain a fertiUzer (col.3, lns.56-57) .

Application/Control Number: 10/632,898 Page 3

Art Unit: 3644

Response to Arguments
5. Applicant's arguments with respect to claim 1 have been considered but are moot in view
of the new ground(s) of rejection.

Conclusion

6. Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this
Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a).
Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).

A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE
MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO
MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after
the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period
will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any extension fee pursuant to 37
CFR 1 .136(a) will be calculated fi-om the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event,
however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the date of this
final action.

7. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the
examiner should be directed to Susan C. Alimenti whose telephone number is 703-306-0360.
The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm.

If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessftil, the examiner's
supervisor, Teri Luu can be reached on 703-305-7421. The fax phone number for the
organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 703-872-9306.

Application/Control Number: 10/632,898

Page 4

Art Unit: 3644

8. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent
Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications
may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished
applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR
system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR
system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free).

SCA

TERIP.LUU
SUPERVISORY PRIMARY EXAMINER